Lulled To Sleep
by KrisAnya
Summary: What if the Room of Requirement could do more than just provide needed materials?
1. Chapter 1

A/N- Unfortunately, like the rest of the writers on I do not own anything related to Harry Potter….not that I would have the money to pay you if you felt like suing me anyway….

"And just where do you think you're going!"

He sighed as he continued to walk away from the person belonging to the angry shout. Normally, there might have been a chance of some sort of rebuttal from him, but not today. Today he simply wanted to escape from the world and so he began running as quickly as he could. Nobody had a chance of catching him considering all the practice he had had for his entire life- unless, of course, they apparated. Then again, seeing as how the events of the disastrous day were unfolding in Hogwarts, they only possible way of trying to reach him was by running. In short, he was home free. Instead of fleeing to his dorm room, he instead only stopped running once he was safely behind the door of the Room of Requirement.

Once there, he plopped down onto an extremely comfy-looking couch that faced a burning fireplace. Coincidentally, or not depending on one's views of this certain room, there happened to be a cup of warm cocoa waiting for him on a table beside the couch. He reached over and brought the rounded side of the cup to his lips to take a sip, relishing the feeling of warmth and safety that emanated from the drink as it traveled down his throat. As he continued to drink from the cup that fit his hand perfectly, his thoughts left the cozy 'family living room' type the Room of Requirement had chosen and returned to those he had been pondering previously before he noticed the door to the beloved room.

His thoughts were predominated by questions hat had haunted him for most of his life, but especially in the past few years. Would things have turned out differently if his childhood had been different? If he had been raised by his parents or at least by someone who loved him? A reckless, sad sort of grin took over his face.

'_I bet even if my parents did raise me, I would still be adventurous. I doubt my mother could keep my father's influence away from me forever, nor that of his best friend_.' The boy's eyes lost their remaining spark at the thought of his godfather.

'_I might have been less reckless though…_'

"All I really want is to see them just once, in real life," the young man muttered aloud.

'_All you really want to do is save them_,' the voice in the back of his mind whispered quietly. He chuckled grimly at the reminder of his 'hero complex.' At last the cup ran out of cocoa, although if the boy had been more alert, he would have notice dhow the cocoa lasted far longer than the size of the cup indicated.

"I might as well return to the common room before a search party is sent," the troubled teen announced to the room. It's quite possible he would have done just that….at least if he hadn't stretched, yawned and leaned back against the couch as his eyelids slowly lowered and he was lulled to sleep by the forever burning fire.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N- Unfortunately, like the rest of the writers on I do not own anything related to Harry Potter….not that I would have the money to pay you if you felt like suing me anyway….

"Where could he have possibly gone?" a girl with extremely bushy hair said exasperatedly to her freckled friend.

"Don't ask me, I know as much as you do. What do you think set him off in the first place?" the tall and gangly teenager replied.

"You know how angry he can get, especially when in the company of _that _professor, even if it is only the first week back, " she muttered as her eyes to continued to roam around the Great Hall as if expecting the third member of their trio to show up.

"You don't think he'd skip _dinner _of all things because of the greasy git, d'ya?" the red head questioned before taking a huge bite out of the pumpkin pie in front of him.

"Is food the only thing you can think about? What is wrong with you? We haven't a clue where our _best friend _could have gone and all you can think about is your stomach! I know it's not wise to skip a meal but at least _he _doesn't constantly complain about food! Besides, I don't think he is coping with the events of last year very well, which you should know!." her bushy hair almost crackled with electricity as her eyes, which were now focused entirely on the boy to her left, were blazing with fury.

The boy's face had paled considerably during her tirade, making his freckles stand out even more. "You know I didn't mean it like that! And of course I realize he could still be depressed over what happened recently!" he exclaimed indignantly, although his eyes showed a bit of fear of what his friend could do when angry.

"Really? Then how did you mean it? Cause it sure sounded to me that you think food is the most important thing in the world and that you _don't _understand his grief!"

"Look, I don't want to get into a fight with you, ok? Let's just focus on finding him."

"If you're done eating, I think we should head up to the dormitory."

"Yea, he might have decided to just go down to the kitchens for something to eat so he could go straight to his room," he replied before he took a last swig of his pumpkin juice and stood up."

"Its possible…" she murmured vaguely as she too stood up, although her mind seemed to be elsewhere as she followed her close friend out of the Great hall and towards the Gryffindor Common Room.

* * *

At the head table of the Great Hall, two people had watched the duo throughout the entirety of their conversation, both wondering if the third member of the infamous trio was getting into trouble wherever it was he seemed to have disappeared to. One had greasy hair that barely touched his shoulders and what seemed like a permanent scowl upon his face, especially when in the company of, or when thinking about, Gryffindors. _'He'll never learn to control his emotions if he always runs away from situations that cause them,' he_ thought viciously as he remembered the disastrous occlumency lesson they'd had earlier.

The other man was quite different from the hooked-nosed fellow, although he couldn't be called an exact opposite to the other man. His eyes, although still with a bit of their patented twinkle, were filled with concern. His professor had informed him about the earlier failed lesson and now it looked as if the boy he had tried so hard to protect over the years could not be found, if the argument he had just witnessed implied what he thought it did. The headmaster followed the path of the duo before they finally vanished from his sight before allowing his eyes to wonder across the hall… even if he wasn't paying particular attention to what lay in front of him.

* * *

"Are you sure he didn't mention _anything _to you about plans after his meeting?" the bushy-haired girl once again questioned her freckled friend after their second futile search of the Common Room and Boys Dormitory.

"Stop asking me that! My answer is not going to change and besides aren't _you _supposed to be the know-it-all!" he exclaimed in frustration.

"Why do you always expect _me_ to solve _everything_? Try and think of somewhere else he could have possibly gone…we've already checked the owlery, Hagrid's, and the astronomy tower…I don't think he'd go outside, he's not that foolish…"she trailed off as her mind frantically tried to com up with either some other place he could be or some way to find wherever it was he'd gone to.

"So now I'm useless and he's foolish? Such high opinions you have of us," the angry red head snarled.

Her eyes blazed anew with anger, "I did _not_ say that. How dare you!"

"How dare I?" he sneered, "we would have been better off with out you, just as I suspected 5 years ago!" he whisper-yelled before stomping up to his dormitory. In his rage and frustration, he failed to notice the mixed look of shock and deep hurt that appeared a split second before tears sprung into her eyes and coursed freely down her cheeks while her shoulders began to shake.

* * *

Unbeknownst to all, the boy-who-could-not-be-found was curled up on the couch in the Room of Requirement, enjoying the first night of good, uninterrupted sleep he'd had since before the Tri-Wizard Tournament. 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N- Unfortunately, like the rest of the writers on I do not own anything related to Harry Potter….not that I would have the money to pay you if you felt like suing me anyway….Also, I'd just like to thank my reviewers, even if you are small in number- you make me want to write faster:)

Harry slowly woke up, a smile upon his face at the feeling of warmth and safety that surrounded him. He vaguely wondered why he didn't hear any of the other boys in his dormitory, surely they must be getting up by now, unless they already left him…but he didn't think Ron would leave with out him. When he finally opened his eyes, after basking in the comfort for a minute longer, a look of confusion took over his face. _'Where am I? This certainly isn't the boys' dormitory. How did I get here?'_ he wondered for a moment as he glanced around the room. Once his gaze fell upon the cup he'd drunk from the night before, however, he realized that he must have fallen asleep in the Room of Requirement.

"I'm really in for it now," he commented to the Room before he stood up and stretched. He cursed when he looked at his watch and saw the time- if he didn't hurry he was going to be late to his History of Magic Class. He didn't' think he would actually miss anything If he skived off but figured if he didn't go there would be more hell to pay afterwards from Ron and Hermione.

"I might as well get going. Thanks for the cup of cocoa," Harry told the Room, even if he wasn't sure it could actually understand him, before he walked out the door and raced to the History of Magic classroom. Once he reached his destination, he went straight to the back with out looking around. He figured Professor Binns wouldn't' even notice that he only had his wand with him, his stuff was still in the dormitory, and besides, he could just get the notes from Hermione. At the thought of one of his best friends, he finally removed his gaze from the window and looked around the room. After two futile searches of the entire classroom, Harry began to get a little worried. _'Where could they be?'_ he thought desperately, not realizing no one from his usual class was present. He inwardly groaned '_what if they're searching for me? I better go try and find them so they know I'm alright and so _I knowthey're _alright,'_ he thought before he snuck quietly out of the classroom and started to walk to the Gryffindor dorm.

'_I really wish I had the Map,'_ he moaned mentally as he hid for the second time from the shadow of a teacher. At last, he reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password, dearie?" she requested kindly.

"Bondartshuk," he answered before backing up slightly in expectation of the portrait swinging forward to let him in.

"I'm sorry, but that's not the password, care to try again?" the Fat Lady replied.

"Not the password?" he questioned faintly, his face etched in confusion. More quietly he continued his conversation with himself, "Why…they _are _prefects…would they really be that mad at me for not showing up to request a new password?" Sadness overtook his look of confusion as he slowly walked away from the portrait, not really paying attention to where his feet were leading him.

A burst of cold air brought Harry back to himself- he'd walked all the way to the owlery, miraculously without getting caught. He leaned against the sill of one of the large openings available for the owls to fly through. A beautiful snowy owl landed on his shoulder after he had been stationary for at least a half hour.

"Hey there, girl," Harry whispered lovingly to the owl as he rubbed his finger against her cheek. "I wish he were still alive, he's the only one I wrote to during the school year… I suppose I could always write to Remus…but he has his own issues to deal with, I wouldn't' want to burden him with mine as well…" he fell silent once again, still petting the owl's cheek. She gave him a hoot of comfort and lightly gripped his shoulder, much like a human would do. Harry smiled weakly in return, grateful for the simple yet meaningful gesture. At that moment, he looked at his watch and realized if he didn't go back inside soon he would miss another class, this one he couldn't afford to miss and _not_ get into trouble for- transfiguration.

"I'll have some time for a quick detour to the kitchens if I leave now, "he murmured aloud, as much for his benefit a sit was an explanation to the snowy owl attached to his shoulder. He knew some people found it weird when he talked to his owl, but he also felt that she was very intelligent in her own right and could understand everything he told her.

" I'll see ya later, girl, " he said with one last smile before he picked her up from his shoulder, put her down on the sill, and made his way back toward the school. She hooted a goodbye as he walked through the door before she flew back to her perch, thinking about the troubled teen who'd just left.

The boy in question ran his hand through his already messy black hair as he walked swiftly through the hallways. When he reached the door covered with fruit, he glanced down at his watch once more before tickling the pear. As expected, once the portrait swung open, at least 10 house elves came up to Harry, bowing and asking what they could do for him.

Harry requested some snack food and 5 scurried off to gather some whilst the others offered him drinks. He thanked them, they were as fast as the ever were, but something was missing. I t wasn't until after Harry had eaten some food and was on his way to Transfiguration that he realized with a start that Dobby was what had been missing. _'Well, its not like he lives there, he does have other jobs besides preparing food,'_ Harry thought to himself as he remembered the time Dobby had been cleaning a room and overheard how gillyweed could allow someone to breathe underwater for an hour, enabling Harry to compete in the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament. He shrugged off the slight feeling of uneasiness he'd felt when he didn't get to see his eccentric friend; he had to pay more attention to where he walked now that the other students were changing class.

* * *

Meanwhile, there were two people standing anxiously outside the door to the Transfiguration classroom, scanning the other students faces for the one of their best friend. Although technically they weren't talking to each other, their mutual worry erased some of their earlier tension. The girl was the first to break the silence.

"You don't think he'd skip two classes in one day, do you?" she asked timidly.

"Now who's the one with a one-track mind?" replied the boy, not quite over the previous night's fight.

"Oh get over yourself and your pride!" she snapped irritably. "You know full well I'm only concerned about the fact that he hasn't been seen all day. We both know Professor Binns probably didn't even notice absence, but Professor McGonagall is bound too and then he'll really be in trouble."

He sighed, "Fine, I'm sorry but I'm just frustrated. He's never stayed out of sight for this long."

"I know and I'm sorry about earlier as well," she replied with a small smile. "We'd better head in, it doesn't look as if he's going to show up here either," she commented with one last concerned glance about the almost empty hall.

"Yea, let's go," the boy said as he led the way into the classroom and took a seat near the middle. Once she sat down as well, he whispered to her, "You don't think he's hurt, do you? I mean he never did come back to the dormitory…"

"I'm sure he's fine," she replied, although her voice was filled with a confidence she didn't hold anywhere else.

"I hope so…" he trailed off before turning his attention back to the lesson.

* * *

Harry picked up his pace as he noticed the hall ways emptying. He managed to squeeze in the Transfiguration classroom right before Professor McGonagall closed the door.

"Almost late, _again_, Mr. Potter," she commented dryly as she walked in after him. Harry grinned sheepishly while the class chuckled at his expense.

"Won't happen again, Professor," he told her, finally lifting his eyes up to meet hers.

"Wait a second," the Professor said suspiciously, her eyes narrowing at both the easiness in which he let it go and his appearance, "this isn't your class. Any why are your eyes green. And where did that scar come from?" She paused for a moment to catch her breath. "Alright, what prank are you trying to pull _this_ time?"

Harry looked at her as if she'd lost her mind. "Umm, sorry Professor, but…I don't understand. I mean…I've always had this scar…and these eyes…and…well, I've never pulled a prank…" he continued to babble on in his slight confusion, "sure I've gotten into trouble before, that's almost a given nowadays…"he said with a self-deprecating laugh, "but I've never pulled a prank. As you know, that's more the twins' avenue than mine…" he trailed off as he glance around at all the students, where were trying their hardest not to laugh, noticing how he didn't recognize any of them _'maybe I _am _in the wrong place…but why does she think I'm playing a prank of some sort...'_

"Mr. Potter, I daresay you've played your far share of pranks during your time here at Hogwarts. Is 'twins' your new code name for yourself and Mr. Black? The two of you certainly think enough alike to be twins," professor McGonagall replied with a raised eyebrow.

The rest of the class couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, obviously finding the absurd situation Potter had gotten himself into this time extremely funny. There was only one person in the room, however, that did not think anything was funny at all- Harry. Even Professor McGonagall could not be counted as one who did not find the situation funny because, truth be told, she enjoyed the antics of Potter and his group of friends. The laugher died down quickly once the class became aware of Harry's response to what the Professor had said. His mouth was in the shape of an O, as if in surprise, but his eyes were what really stood out. They showed a strange mix of hurt, sadness, and guilt- all of the deepest degrees. The students and professor had barely a moment to study Harry's features, for he had run out the door. Professor McGonagall stood still for barely a fraction of a second before she too ran to the door.

"James Potter, come back here and explain yourself!"


End file.
